Trust your instincts.. my girl’s rash turned out to be leukaemia
Joy for family as Isla, 4, recovers after 2 years of cancer treatment
A MUM has warned parents to get their children’s rashes checked out after her toddler developed one that led to her being diagnosed with blood cancer.
Little Isla McPhee was a fit and healthy two-year-old before she started appearing “under the weather” in February 2018.
Mum Charlotte McPhee, from Falkirk, grew concerned when she spotted a red rash on her daughter’s neck a few weeks later, which quickly spread to her legs.
Trusting her “mother’s instinct”, she rushed Isla to her doctor, who thought it might be a post-viral rash and referred her to Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert for further tests.
Isla’s blood results concerned medics and she was taken to Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children, where the toddler was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) – an aggressive form of cancer that affects white blood cells.
Charlotte, 29, said: “My husband Josh and I were really worried as we waited on results coming back.
“I just knew something was wrong. When they said it was leukaemia, we were terrified.
“I kept asking, ‘Is she going to die?’ You never think k this would happen n to you.”
Isla’s diagnosis led to o her having a Hickman n line inserted, bone e marrow aspiration and d the removal of spinal l fluid.
This allowed the e brave tot to start t gruelling rounds of f chemotherapy that t went on for more than n two years.
But doctors assured d the McPhees that t treatment for ALL has s a success rate of over r 90 per cent.
Despite the prognosis, the McPhees’ world turned upside down, with NHS worker Charlotte and her oil refinery specialist husband Josh, also 29, staying at accommodation for families of sick kids in Glasgow.
And with Isla’s diagnosis coming just seven months after the birth of her brother Fraser, tthe couple mmade the difficult ddecision to lleave their nnew baby in tthe care his grandparentsg while they moved into Marion House near the hospital to be there for their daughter full-time.
Charlotte said: “Leaving Fraser with grandparents at seven months old was horrible.
“Our family was split up for the first six weeks of Isla’s treatment so we could be near her in Glasgow the entire time. We had to do what we had to do. She needed us. It was devastating but it was the right thing.”
Now Charlotte wants to share Isla’s story in the hope that other parents will attend to rashes that their children develop.
She said: “If one person reads about our story and they think their child has a similar rash, they should get it checked.
“It’s all about a mother’s instinct. If you think something is not quite right, get the doctor.”
Isla came through her chemo like a true fighter and the family are delighted that the little girl, now four, completed the treatment in May, despite the additional challenges of a global pandemic.
Charlotte said: “Isla had come so far then we had that to contend with. But NHS staff were nothing short of angels and we got through it.”
Last week, medics told the family Isla no longer needs regular check-ups and the McPhees are looking forward to their first “normal” Christmas since 2017.
Charlotte said: “Isla has spent the last two Christmas Eves in hospital. This time last year she had an infection and things were really bad.
“This year Christmas is going to be so magical.”